A Government Staff Ministry will actually be created in Armenia, and the former finance minister Vache Gabrielyan will lead that ministry.  

At the May 8 session of the Government, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan pointed out that the creation of the new ministry is conditioned by the reforms that will be controlled by the new ministry. "We are at the stage of reforms and there is a need to coordinate the reforms in various departments", he said.  Sargsyan added that the new minister will coordinate the reforms in the state governance sphere, education and healthcare. The relevant draft amendments to the law on the Armenian Government's structure will shortly be submitted for consideration of the Parliament.      

To enhance the efficiency of the Government's work, the Prime Minister suggested enlarging the institute of vice premiers. He recalled that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has repeatedly stressed the need to introduce constitutional amendments to increase the number of the vice premiers.

 Armenia went through election trials and has become stronger, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said congratulating the new Government Staff, Wednesday.

The president said that elections were a serious trial for Armenia. And the country has overcome it becoming more confident and stronger. After the parliamentary elections, nearly all the big political forces are represented in the parliament, which has already displayed itself as a solid political body. The presidential election has brought a new political culture to the country, while the latest elections to the Elders' Council of Yerevan proved that the people are ready to support those officials who prefer everyday work to shows, the president said.

The total of 5-6 thousand of Armenian citizens claimed asylum in the European Union countries for the last two years, chairperson of the Migration Service under Territorial
Administration Ministry, Irina Davtyan, said when presenting a programme "Prevention of illegal migration to Belgium through informing of Armenian society", 8 May.

She said that in the 90-s, 8-9 thousand of Armenian citizens used to claim asylum in European countries, but this indicator gradually reduced. "If in the 90-s the main reasons of migration were the USSR split, the Karabakh war and the earthquake, at present, unemployment, low salary and other phenomena in the society are the reasons of emigration", - she said. She also added that in 2012 only 100 Armenian citizens out of 3 thousand that applied for asylum, got it. "Earlier, stemming from humanism, European countries were receiving applications for asylum for treatment. However, today the rules changed and only those applications are satisfied, in which
a disease is fixed which cannot be treated in the country where an applicant has come from", - she said and added that in the European countries there is a list of diseases which are not treated in other countries.

For his part, the head of International Organization for Mankind Development, Armen Galstyan, said that many Armenians think that if they emigrate to a European country, they can have free treatment and later get citizenship. "However, this is wrong. There is no problem if one has got money and wants to be treated in Europe  and come
back. But the European taxpayer does not want and is not obliged to pay for the treatment of a citizen from another country", - he said.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's foreign trips come at a high price for taxpayers, a local Zhoghovurd newspaper writes.

The paper writes that the President's Administration has recently made a contract with Air Armenia Company that will serve the president's flights by Airbus A319 EK RA-01. The cost of the contract was 100 million drams.

"Where Serzh Sargsyan flied to and what made his visit or visits so expensive is not known yet," the paper writes.

Earlier, the president's airbus was served by Armavia national air career, which terminated the flights on April 1 and launched a bankruptcy procedure.

Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), the former member of the ruling coalition, will announce itself an oppositional party at the autumn session of the National Assembly, a local
Haykakan Zhamanak Daily writes referring to its sources at the PAP.

The paper writes that after the elections to the Yerevan Council of Elders, PAP is still determined to announce itself as oppositional party and make some internal structural changes in autumn. It is not clear what kind of changes it will be. The issue is currently under discussion. They in PAP are ready also for withdrawal of the party's
business wing.

"Actually, the authorities are preparing for the elections of 2017-2018 on the same scenario as in 2007- 2008. However, then the instrument or 'the opposition' was Orinats Yerkir Party. Time will show whether the scenario will be changed or how efficient it will be," the authors of the item say.

In compliance with Article 55.4 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan signed decrees on more appointments in the Government,
Wednesday.

The president has reappointed Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan, Minister of Nature Protection Aram Haroutiunyan,  Minister for Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan, and Minister of Economy Vahram Avanesyan, who replaced Tigran Davtan of the given position. Yuri Vardanyan replaced Hracharya Rostomyan on the post of the Minister for Sport and Youth Affairs.  Armen Yeritsyan, a member of Orinats Yerkir Party is reappointed as Minister for Emergency Situations. The decrees will come into force from the moment of signing.

Head of the Armenian Police, Lt. General Vladimir Gasparyan has dismissed Hovhanness Kocharyan from the position of the Head of the Passport and Visa Office and sent him to
the personnel reserve, the Police Press-Service reported.

In addition, Vladimir Gasparyan has appointed Norayr Muradkhanyan Head of the Passport and Visa Office. Muradkhanyan had previously occupied the given post

Based on the results of the meetings of the Executive Organ and the Board of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, attended by the leader of the party, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, Spokesman of the RPA Eduard Sharmazanov has made public the composition of the new Armenian government.

 The 100,000 votes we secured during the past municipal elections are quite a satisfactory result considering the current situation in the country, Spokesman of Prosperous Armenia Party Tigran Urikhanyan told ArmInfo on Tuesday.

He said that the results of the elections do not reflect the real public attitude. "Of course, 100,000 votes is a good result but this is not enough," Urikhanyan said.

When asked if Prosperous Armenia is going to dispute the results of the elections or to reject the seats it has won, Urikhanyan said that they will decide what they will do only after they analyze the results and the post-election situation.

During the May 5 elections into Yerevan's Elders Council Prosperous Armenia secured 97,189 votes or 23.07% of the total.

Armenian National Congress party did not overcome 6% barrier at the Yerevan Council of Elders election because it had boycotted the presidential election, the
leader of the Social and Democratic "Hchakyan" party, a member of the parliament from ANC, Lyudmila Sargsyan, said at today's press-conference.

She thinks that high migration rates also affected the low percentage of the ANC at the election, as major part of those who leave the country, are the ANC supporters. She also added that 50% of Yerevan residents could not vote for the RPA, as a major part of them simply hate the incumbent authorities.

She also emphasized that these election have become an indicator of the true votes of Raffi Hovannisian. "8,48% of votes gained by "Barev,Yerevan" bloc, proved that Hovannisian got the votes of all the opposition candidates", - she said.

 Geoteam CJSC is pleased to announce that the joint project between themselves and the Football Federation of Armenia has received the UEFA HatTrick Award in  the ''Popular Football'' nomination as "The Best Grassroots Project", among 53 countries. 

According to the press service of Geoteam CJSC, during the 11th annual meeting of the Football Federation of Armenia on April 27th, UEFA's HatTrick Committee Member and Chairman of the Football Federation of Belarus, Sergey Safaryan handed over the award to the Football Federation of Armenia.

The joint project between Geoteam and FFA was aimed:

- To promote football and sport in targeted communities (Gndevaz, Saravan and Gorayk)

- To nurture children's and youth development as well as integration through team work, leadership, sport and a healthy lifestyle

- To encourage the exchange of interpersonal, cultural and sporting  values. 

During 2012, over 140 children of the three communities Saravan, Gndevaz and Gorayk of Vayots Dzor and Syunik Regions participated in the project. The Project slogan "One team, one goal" reflected the spirit of the activity, with all partners, Geoteam, the Football Federation of Armenia and the participating communities jointly bringing new opportunities to enhance children's development, through interactive activities, summer camp, football matches, intellectual quizzes and inter-village competitions. The project was also an intellectual and learning experience for the participating children: they gained knowledge on healthy lifestyle, learned to work as a team, as well as solve issues together. Last but not least, the program trained local physical education teachers to serve as coaches and apply modern methods and technique on sport development and
education at community schools. 

The project is part of Geoteam's Corporate Social Responsibility program and was aimed at enhancing sport and team-building among the children of the communities of Gorayk, Saravan and Gndevaz around the Amulsar operation. The FFA project also highlights the interactive cultural contracts, tolerance and the importance of getting to know
each other better within the younger generation.  Geoteam is curently supporting the expansion of this program benefiting four communities (Gndevaz, Saravan, Gorayk, Kechut) and over 160 children: four local teachers will be an integral part of this activity throughout the project in 2013.

Corporate Responsibility for Geoteam is not only commitment to high international standards in the core business, including environmental and social best management, financial transparency and accountability but also ensuring that the affected communities benefit from the project in various ways, including: enhancement of active social and
cultural life.

Not the Council of Elders election were held in Yerevan but the purchase and sale of votes, the head of the Social and Democratic "Hchakyan" party, a member of the
parliament from the ANC, Lyudmila Sargsyan, said at today's press-conference.

She did not want to understand that not only representatives of Republican Party of Armenia were dishing out bribes, as members of Prosperous Armenia Party too. As for the PAP, she said that "PAP is neither the opposition nor the coalition, it is an alternative party which has been demonstrating more the opposition stance", - she said.

She also added that ANC welcomes the PAP joining the opposition field. She thinks that at present an absolute consolidation of the out of the power forces is necessary.
"The current authorities have picked the society's pocket and are robbing it without mercy, and Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan  is a chief pickpocket of the country", she said. The politician said that despite the efforts of the authorities, at present there are no serious disagreements between ANC and the rest opposition forces.

 The elections into Yerevan's Elders Council were competitive and civilized, says reelected Mayor of Yerevan Taron Margaryan.

In his address to Yerevan residents on Tuesday he thanked them for trusting him and promised to justify their expectations and to improve life in the capital.

Barev Yerevan bloc's low representation in Yerevan's Elders Council is not an obstacle to the opposition's consolidation, Deputy Chairman of Heritage Party Armen Martirosyan
told journalists on Tuesday.

He said that the parliamentary group of Heritage Party has proved that low representation is not an obstacle for those who are eager to work.

As regards the possibility of Barev Yerevan's cooperation with Prosperous Armenia Party in the municipal parliament, Martirosyan said that Prosperous Armenia should first decide who it is with.

Martirosyan welcomes Arakelutyun Party's urge that the opposition forces must start forming a single front. "We must set aside our ambitions and start fighting for the country's future. As regards Prosperous Armenia, it should first make it clear that it is an opposition force," the oppositionist said.

During the May 5 elections into Yerevan's Elders Council the ruling Republican Party of Armenia secured 55.89% of the votes, Prosperous Armenia 23.07%, Barev Yerevan Bloc 8.48%. Some mass media and citizens report that the first two offered bribes to voters, but the parties refute the reports.

Armenian Minister of Sport and Youth Hrachya Rostomyan, the last member of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) in the Government, will shortly leave the Government. Rostomyan has said at the Ministry that he will resign soon.

A source in the ruling Republican Party of Armenia has told ArmInfo that Yuri Vardanyan, Advisor to Armenian President, Olympic weightlifting champion, will be the new Minister of Sport and Youth of Armenia.

 Deputy Chairman of Heritage Party Armen Martirosyan has confirmed to ArmInfo the information that members of his party were offered bribes worth hundreds of thousands of USD before the May 5 municipal elections.

First time Martirosyan said it when detained by the police during an opposition rally on Apr 9.

Martirosyan refused to say who exactly offered the bribes. "I can only say that the offer was by the ruling regime," he said.

Meanwhile, article 335 of the Criminal Code of Armenia says that a person refusing to provide information about a serious crime he is aware of should pay a fine equal to 300-500 minimum wages or should be sent to jail for no more than two years.

During the NATO Parliamentary Assembly's seminar in Tbilisi, the Armenian delegation raised the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic's involvement in the Karabakh peace process, Koryun Nahapetyan, Head of the Armenian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, MP from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, told journalists on May 7. 

He said that the three-day seminar participants - parliamentarians, political experts, diplomats - discussed the urgent problems in the South Caucasus, Euro-Atlantic integration, settlement of disputed situations, as well as the possible Russian-Georgian dialogue.     

"During the debates on Karabakh, the Armenian Delegation once again voiced its stance: the conflict should be settled only in case of Stepanakert's involvement in the peace process. We also called on our Azerbaijani colleagues to abstain from destructive statements about "occupation of Azerbaijani territories" because they hinder achievement of a compromise", he said.

Nahapetyan added that the Armenian Delegation and Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili discussed the problems of Armenians of Javakhq, as well as the status of the Armenian language in Javakhq. "The Georgian Prime Minister made it clear that this problem is quite resolvable, but added that the full integration of Georgian Armenians and any other national minorities into the public and political life of the country also needs the use of the Georgian language", Nahapetyan said.

 Today, the maximum buying rates at commercial banks of Yerevan were 415 drams for 1 dollar, 542drams for 1 EUR and 13,3 drams for 1 Russian ruble. The minimum
selling rates stood at 416 drams for 1 dollar, 545 drams for 1 EUR and 13,3 drams for 1 Russian ruble.

 The Hot Line of Ombudsman's office received only 19 calls about irregularities during the Yerevan Council of Elders election, press-service of the Ombudsman's office reported.

They recalled that during the parliamentary election on 6 May 2012 they received 178 calls, and 214 during the presidential election on 18 February 2013.

In a statement released after the voting, Ombudsman Karen Andreasyan says that all the political forces running for election were offered free conditions for conducting their campaign and had sufficient representation in the polling centers to oversee the voting process and the tabulation of ballots.

"Journalists and observers from non-governmental organizations followed the entire process with an unprecedented activeness, informing the public of almost every irregularity, even the slightest one. Verified and unverified reports by observer organizations and journalists to highlight essential and non-essential violations, including suspicions and hypotheses were no more than 600 in number. Compared to the previous presidential election, the police demonstrated a higher operational efficiency in reacting to the civil society's reports on vote rigging. Notwithstanding that, they have revealed and singled out no more than 143 reports meeting reliability criteria. The reports on ballot stuffing, electoral bribe distribution and other essential wrongdoings,  at least those which looked justified at first sight, amount to fifty, whereas the vote
balance among the contestants essentially exceeds the figures unveiled.

Considering the above mentioned, the Yerevan Council of Elders election can be considered free, there being no legal grounds to distrust their legitimacy, the report says.

Armenia's Nature Protection Ministry has made a negative environmental impact statement on several projects. 

The press service of the Ministry reports that the matter concerns Mega Gold's project on construction of the third tailing dump of Tukhmanuk deposit; Gegamet Plus's project on development of the magnesium- silicate and chromite mine in Shorzha; as well as the project on development of the andesite and basalt pit in Voghjaberd. In addition, the Ministry turned down the design documents on gold mining in Meghradzor to Meghradzor Gold.     

To note, almost all of the specified projects caused the discontent of the environmentalists and local residents, who are concerned over the negative impact of these projects on the environment. The head of the Union of Green Activists of Armenia, Hakob Sanasaryan, said that development of the Tukhmanuk deposit is dangerous not only for Melik village but also for the whole Ararat valley as the tailing dumps contain heavy metals which penetrate into agriculture products through the irrigation water.

Earlier this year the residents of Meghradzor community held a protest action in front of the President's residence against Meghradzor Gold's plans to build a cyanic plant. It was reported that the activity of the plant contained potential risks as it would be built in the resort zone of Tsaghkadzor-Meghradzor- Hankavan. As regards the Shorzha mine, EcoLur NGO has drawn public attention to the violation of the Law "On Lake Sevan", because the development of the deposit destroys the Areguni mountain range, which is an integral part of the lake ecosystem.